Tuesday, October 2, 2012

2 October 2010 - Just Imagine Where They'd Have Been Without It

On 2 October 2010, Dundee beat Greenock Morton 2-1 to start a club-record 23-game unbeaten streak. Which left them in the exact same spot in the table they were in when they started it.

It was the eighth matchday of the Scottish Division One season, which opened with Dundee in seventh place after an away loss to Cowdenbeath. They were hosting Morton at Dens Park, where a crowd of 4,068 turned up to see what turned out to be the start of a record run.

Dundee took the lead in the 25th minute after the referee called a handball on Morton and Matt Lockwood converted the ensuing penalty. They failed to hold it to the break, however, as Peter Weatherson drew the visitors level with a goal off a corner kick in the 41st minute. But Dundee pulled back ahead for good in the 57th minute with Colin McMenamin scoring the match winner.

They followed the result by going undefeated in their next 22 matches, with thirteen more wins and only nine draws. But remarkably, when that record string ended with a loss to Raith Rovers on 2 April 2011, Dundee were still in seventh place (and had even dropped down to 10th for a period of eight weeks in the middle of the streak). They finished the season in sixth.